Drawer slide



April 24, 1962 c. w. KocH 3,031,249

' DRAWER SLIDE Filed June 19, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 C. W. KOCH DRAWER SLIDE April 24, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 19, 1959 3,031,249 Patented pr. 24, 1962 3,031,249 DRAWER SLIDE Clarence W. Koch, 6614 Neosho Ave., St. Louis, Mo. Filed .lune 19, 1959, Ser. No. 821,426 4 Claims. (Cl. B12- 339) This invention relates to improvements in drawer slides, and is particularly concerned with a floating slide assembly which will be hereinafter described in connection with a preferred embodiment, but no limitation is to be inferred therefrom.

A principal object of the invention is to provide a 4drawer slide of simple construction and composed of a minimum of parts to avoid difficulties in operation and it, and to improve the ease with which the same may be installed.

Another important object of the invention is to provide a drawer slide of substantially noiseless character in which a novel floating slide constitutes the principal moving part of the assembly and contributes to the smooth and noiseless operation.

Other objects of the invention will be pointed out as the description of the preferred form of the assembly proceeds.

The invention consists in a pair of identical roller carrying brackets, one secured to the stationary frame and the other secured to the movable drawer, and a Slide track member engaged upon the rollers so as to 'be free to move or float during drawer opening and closing motion. The invention consists further in those parts and components hereinafter particularly described, or shown in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FiG. l is a perspective view of a cabinet in which the invention may be used to advantage;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged and fragmentary sectional View of the cabinet showing the oating slide assembly in drawer closed position, the section being taken along line 2-2 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary sectional elevational View, on an enlarged scale, of the slide assembly at the right side of a drawer in the cabinet of FIG. l, the View being taken at line 3 3 in FIG. l;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to that of FIG. 3, but showing the drawer in extended position;

FIG. 5 is a greatly enlarged fragmentary sectional elevational view taken at line 5-5 in FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged side view of a typical slide assem'bly showing details thereof;

FIG. 7 is an end view, partly in section, of the slide assembly as seen along line J7--7 in FIG. 6; and

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary view of the slide illustrating an assembly feature of the same.

In FIGS. l and 2, the cabinet 10 of a well known type has a frame which includes side walls 11, la rear wall 12 and divider rails 13 separating the front of the cabinet into a plurality of openings through which drawers 14 move between open and closed positions.

One drawer 14 is shown in FIG. 1 in partly open position to show the drawer side panels 15. Each drawer 14 is suspended on a pair of floating slide assemblies c0mprising, as seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, a roller bracket 16 secured to the cabinet side wall 11, a similar roller bracket 16 secured to the drawer side 15, and' a cooperating suspension slide 17 engaged upon each pair of brackets 16. The assemblies are constructed for use at the left and ride sides of each drawer 14, and in manufacturing the same the slides 1'7 are left and right hand parts while the roller brackets 16 are substantially identical and interchangeable. In the following description an assembly at the right side of the drawer 14 will be detailed, but it should vbe understood that the same will apply equally to the assembly at the left side.

Referring now to FIGS. 3 to 7, inclusive, each roller bracket 16 includes an elongated mounting plate having spaced apertures to receive securing elements 19. A pair of widely spaced rollers Ztl are carried on each bracket by bearing means 21. The rollers 20 are formed of nylon to avoid the need for lubrication, to reduce noise, and for long life. As seen in FIGS. 3, 4 and 5, the uppermost bracket 16 is secured to the cabinet wall 11 and the lowermost bracket 16 is secured to the drawer wall 15. The cooperating slide 17, best seen in FIG. 7, is a one-piece S-shaped member having an upper channel section 22 formed with a track-way 23 between a marginal ange '24 at the open side and a beveled fillet 25 at the closed side. A lower section 26 is similarly formed with a track-way 27 between a marginal ange 28 at the open side and a beveled fillet 29 at the closed side. The sections 22 and 26 are reversely positioned and are connected by a web 30 at large radius corners 30a and 30b. In forming the slide 17, tabs 31 and 32 at the ends of the section 22 (FIG. 3) are bent at right angles to close the ends of the track-way 23, and similar tabs 33 and 34 close the respective ends of the track-way 27. Each lclosure tab is formed with an opening to receive a resilient bumper element 35 so that the rollers will be noiselessly checked at the ends of its run.

As best seen in FIGS. 3 and 4, the upper slide section 22 is shorter at the front end than slide section 26 so that an upwardly opening slot 36 is formed in the end of the projecting lower section 27. The slot 36 allows the rollers 2d on the drawer mounted bracket 16 to pass into and out of the track-way 27 when inserting or removing a drawer 14 from the cabinet 10. As best seen in FIG. 7, the roller 20 is held free of contact with the closed wall of section 22 by the fillet 25, and the inner radius of the corner 30a. Also the oblique angle of the flange 24 holds the roller 20 clear of rubbing Contact, whereby no friction creating Contact between rollers and slide can occur. The same provisions are found in the lower track-way 27 where fillet 29 and the inner radius at corner 30!) maintain the roller clear of the closed wall. A further feature of improvement is seen in FIG. 6, wherein the left end of upper section 22 has the end portion of the web 30 and track-way 23 slightly inwardly joggled at 37 to reduce the vertical width of the trackway so that the roller 20 in this portion is firmly held against looseness and vertical play. Although the scale of FIGS. 3 and 4 does not permit showing the joggle 37, it is pointed out that the right hand end of the lower track-way 27 and the left hand end of upper track-way 23 are similarly formed to avoid vertical play when the respective rollers 20 are in that end position.

In operation, FIGS. 3 and 4, when the drawer 14 is closed the roller bracket 16 secured to its side panel or wall 15 is at the rear against the end bumper 35. This engagement causes the slide 17 to be drawn rightwardly until the upper cabinet mountedrroller bracket 16 engages its front end bumper 35, at which time the drawer 14 is fully closed. In opening the drawer 14 (FIG. 4), the slide 17 will float between the roller brackets and may, at times, move with the drawer depending upon the distribution of weight in the drawer. However, the lower bracket will pass beneath the cabinet bracket and engage the lower front bumper 35 to draw the slide outwardly until the upper rear bumper 35 in end tab 32 is engaged to arrest further outward movement. The drawer is fully open position will have its rear end at the front face of the cabinet. The widely spaced rollers 20 in each bracket 16 .are admirably suited for assuming the torque or resisting the downward or upward tilting of the drawer, and at all intermediate positions the same resistance to torque reactions between drawer and cabinet is evident.

The attachment of the present assembly is easily performed by first locating `and securing the roller brackets 16 to each side wall 11 of the cabinet interior. The slides 17 may then be inserted by locating the upper trackway flange 24 over the rollers 20 (FIG. 8) and pressing inwardly on the lower section 26 to snap the rollers 20 into position. The open side of the upper track section 22 will then be facing the wall 11 and the open side of the lower` track section 26 will face into the cabinet (FIG. 5). The drawer is assembled with the slide 17 pulled out, as in FIG. 4, so that the rollers 20 on the drawer mounted bracket 16 may be inserted at opening 36. This is accomplished by appropriately tilting the drawer front upwardly so that the rollers 20 will clear the front stop tabs 33. The drawer 14 is disengaged by reversing the above described operation.

The above described drawer slide assembly has the advantages of being very simple in construction and operate, there being only one moving part 17 which oats between a pair of roller brackets 16 to provide drawer opening extension substantially equivalent to the length of both track-ways 23 and 27. The arrangement of the track-ways makes it possible to have a relatively short length slide 17 and torque reaction is resisted in the widely spaced rollers 20 on each bracket so that a very smooth drawer action is obtained regardless of the loading of the drawer or its position between the open and closed positions. The formation of the llets 25 and 29, and the inner radius at flanges 24 and 28 maintain the rollers centered in the respective tracks and avoid the side rubbing of the rollers.

While a preferred assembly has been shown, all equivalent assemblies and modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a cabinet having side walls and a drawer receiving opening therebetween and a drawer movably received in the opening and having side walls spaced from the cabinet side walls and a front wall closing the cabinet opening with the drawer moved into the cabinet, the improvement of means to movably support the drawer on the cabinet comprising, a first bracket secured on a cabinet side wall adjacent the drawer opening; a second bracket secured on. a drawer side wall remote from the drawer front wall; said brackets being located in offset relation in the space between the cabinet and drawer side walls so as to be able to pass each other in the opening and closing movement of the drawer; friction reducing running means carried by each bracket and located in a common plane; and a slide member disposed in the space between the cabinet and drawer side walls, said slide member including a rst channel-shaped elongated section having an opening at one side defined by a flange along one margin and having a trackway therein adjacent said flange, and a second channel-shaped elongated section open at one side and having a trackway therein, said channel-shaped sections being connected by a web and having the open sides facing in opposite directions and said second section being longer than said first section to provide a slot adjacent one end of said slide member opening to the trackway therein and admitting running means thereto, said slotted end of said slide member being adjacent the cabinet opening, said first channel-shaped section being engaged on said running means of said rst bracket in position to suspend said slide member in the space between the cabinet and drawer walls, said marginal flange on said first channel-shaped section extending at an oblique angle toward said cabinet side wall and spaced from said web a distance to permit said slide member to be detachably connected to said running means secured to said first bracket, by disposing said marginal ange over said first bracket running means and pressing said second channel section toward said cabinet side wall until said first bracket running means is positioned above said web.

2. In a cabinet having side walls and a drawer receiving opening therebetween, a drawer disposed for movement through said opening and having side walls spaced from said cabinet side walls, a drawer front wall closing said cabinet opening when said drawer side walls are substantially disposed within said cabinet, the improvement of means to movably support said drawer in said cabinet for slidable movement therein comprising a first bracket secured to the forward end of said cabinet side wall adjacent said drawer opening, a second bracket secured to the drawer side wall adjacent its rear end, said brackets being located one above the other in the space between said drawer side wall and cabinet side wall so said brackets pass each other when said drawer is opened and closed, roller means secured to each bracket and disposed in vertical alignment with each other one above the other to permit said roller means to pass each other when said drawer is opened and closed, and a slide member disposed in said space between said cabinet and drawer side walls and being detachably connected to said roller means, said slide member comprising an upper channel-shaped elongated section having a vertical inner leg, a horizontal top leg extending outwardly from the vertical leg and a downwardly and outwardly inclined marginal flange on said horizontal leg forming an open side facing said cabinet side wall with a trackway adjacent thereto, and a lower channel-shaped elongated section having a Vertical outer leg, a horizontal bottom leg extending inwardly from said vertical outer leg and an inwardly and upwardly inclined marginal flange on said bottom leg forming an open side facing inwardly with a trackway adjacent thereto, a horizontal web connecting said vertical legs to each other, said lower section being substantially longer than said upper section and having a slot in its front upper end adjacent said cabinet opening to receive roller means secured to said drawer bracket therein, said marginal flange on said upper section being outwardly and downwardly inclined with respect to said top horizontal leg and spaced from said web a distance to permit said slide member to be detachably connected to said cabinet roller means by disposing said upper marginal flange over said rollerl means and pressing said lower section toward said cabinet wall until said roller means is positioned above said web.

3. The cabinet of claim 2 wherein fillet means are provided between said horizontal legs and said vertical legs to deiine a trackway with said flanges for said roller means.

4. The cabinet of claim 2 wherein said upper elongated section has its forward end adjacent said slot and between said top horizontal leg and said web joggled toward each other to firmly hold the roller means disposed therebetween.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 883,069 Yawman Mar. 24, 1908 2,608,457 Zibell Aug. 26, 1952 2,750,052 Brown et a1. June 12, 1956 2,898,159 Arnit Aug. 4, 1959 FOREIGN PATENTS 400,740 France .lune 22, 1909 

